Representative Musser,
I am most interested in how House Bill 75 became such a stampede. What
factual evidence was provided in support of a need for such a bill? What
constituencies pressed for its passage? Were there any hearings? If so, is
there a record of the speakers or better yet a transcript. I am the
unofficial coordinator of group of opponents to what I call the anti-DU
crusade and I fear that your State is the latest to be taken in by their con
game. The object of the game is to declare the United States a war criminal
and if they have to make a few veterans and their families concerned about a
non-existent malady, then so much the better. It is easy to convince
leglislatures to do something "for the troops" when it would be far harder
to get them to say that the "US has committed war crimes". I hope that the
committee has no anti-DU activists on it and that for example Douglas Lind
Rokke of nearby Illinois does not become a member. Doctor Rokke is one of
the foremost spokesmen for the anti-DU crusade. He neglects to tell his
audiences and video viewers that he has a doctorate in Vocational Education,
not Health Physics, Physics or Medicine as he often implies. He also
neglect to tell them that he is a retired Army Reserve Officer who served
less than two years on active duty as a reservist and that he did not become
a Major until well after the Gulf War and its aftermath. He never quite
tells them that as First Lieutenant, USAR, activated with his unit for the
Gulf War that the Army gave him the duty Military Occupational Specialty
(MOS) of Health Physicist while he accompanied, but did not lead the team
that assessed DU contamination of armored vehicles hit by friendly fire.
Rokke has many times falsely implied that he was healthy then and that he
and the team members he "led" have become ill and even that a number have
died due to exposure to DU. None of them had died due to any cause as of
two years ago when I queried the Department of Defense and the proof that
Rokke was not made seriously ill is that he was not medically retired as a
First Lieutenant, but continued to pass routine physicals and remained in
the Army Reserve for another 12 years including a one-year voluntary active
duty tour, extended to 15 months, as a newly promoted Captain in 1995. Your
staff can learn more about DU at the following sites www.depletedcranium.com
and the Yahoo Group that I established to display the records I got under
FOIA on Rokke and others DUStory. Two links to DUStory are
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/DUStory/message/57 which has links to the
Rokke files along with a login and password so that your staff member does
not have to join the Yahoo Group and
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/DUStory/message/55 which has direct links
to a number of sites with factual information about depleted uranium. If
they would like to contact me, I will be glad to put them in contact with
radiation health professionals and others with expertise on the subject.
Thank you.
Roger W Helbig